Suga avoided making any official statement about what he described as a conversation between third parties, but said that the Japanese government was closely following the development of the matter.

The Olympics enjoy a special symbolic position in the current thaw in relations between Pyongyang, Seoul and Washington, as North Korean athletes participated in the Winter Olympics in South Korea's PyeongChang in February, and paved the way for two forthcoming historic summits - between the leaders of North Korea and the United States, and the two Koreas.

Kim, during his meeting with Bach on Friday, underlined the significant role of the IOC in the current diplomatic scenario involving the easing of tensions between the two Koreas.

--IANS

gau/bg

(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)